India is expected to have its own space station in the coming years

I am very proud and happy that India’s space programme has made great strides towards becoming a resonant, self-sustaining ecosystem with the latest research and technology advancements. Chandrayaan and Gaganyaan are our flagship missions. We were the first country to land a spacecraft near the unexplored southern basin of the Moon. The manned Gaganyaan mission will be launched soon and I am sure there will be many more such manned missions in the coming years.

There are reports of ISRO collaborating with NASA on a mission to the International Space Station, which is a great example of international cooperation. This is just the beginning. In fact, we should have our own space station in the coming years.

ISRO has many ambitious plans, such as putting an Indian astronaut on the Moon, which is good. We have improved our cryogenic propulsion. ISRO recently achieved a major milestone in making its CE20 cryogenic propulsion system human-ready, which will power the cryogenic stage of the LVM3 manned launch vehicle for Gaganyaan missions and later be used in important test flights.

In the coming years, we should have launch vehicles capable of putting payloads into orbit from the current 10 tonnes to 25 tonnes. The development of high-thrust semi-cryogenic rockets will make this possible.

The Indian space sector is known for low-cost satellite launches and we are launching hundreds of foreign satellites. We are sure to increase our share of the global space economy significantly in the next five years.

India is a leader in space technology and we can help many of our neighbours who need our help in space-based services. We already share the fruits of our technological progress with them and should increase this further. We should take the lead in international space cooperation.

Opportunities are opening up for the expansion of commercial space travel. Privatisation and liberalisation of regulations for the space sector will create jobs and allow private companies to take over a large part of production and marketing.

India has emerged as a global player in space and is striving to maintain its leadership position in this field.

* Need our own space station

* Launch vehicles are designed to bring payloads of 25 tons into orbit

* Support our neighbors who need help

* Continuation of international cooperation

* Increase our share of the global space economy